Chop saws (also referred to as cut-off saws) are commonly used power saws that offer convenience, speed and reasonably good safety. They provide the ability to cut pre-selected angles repeatably with good precision. Commercially available chop saws, in spite of their widespread use, however, still have numerous shortcomings.
Among these, the fences are typically too short, making it difficult to align a long piece of material on a relatively small table surface with an excessively small fence.
Likewise, the cutting blade is typically too far from the end of the fence, making it difficult to cut short materials or thin materials without support behind or under them.
It can be overly difficult to cut multiple parts the same length, often requiring each individual part to be separately measured and marked, indexed, clamped and cut.
A common problem is changing angles of the fence. This often entails loosening two bolts, lowering the blade, measuring and setting the desired angle, re-tightening the two bolts and finally clamping the material against the fence prior to cutting. It is not uncommon that during this set-up procedure the fence is inadvertently moved, upsetting the desired angle and requiring the set-up procedure to be repeated (often after having cut the material initially to an angle other than the desired angle). Further, if the clamp bolts were not tightened sufficiently, the combination of vibration, blade friction and the angle may result in allowing the material to creep into the blade and change the fence angle. Finally, returning to a 90 degree cut often requires the same complex set-up procedure.
Brazell, US Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0127960, teaches a pivoting arm cut-off saw that utilizes an angularly pivotal fence with a corresponding quick-release clamp that is representative of the more advanced features of the art. Dibbern Jr. et al., US Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0209107, teach a chop saw with a vise that includes a vise screw with a latch support supporting the vise screw, and a vise jaw disposed at the end of the vise jaw. Preferably, the maximum distance between the vise jaw and the latch support is about equal to or shorter than the distance between the blade center and the latch support when the blade assembly is in the lowered position.